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Situated in the heart of Mayfair is the very
stylish Avery Row with its trendy bespoke shops, cafes, exclusive restaurants
and designer pubs. This area is sandwiched between South Molton Street, Brook
Street and Oxford Street, the area was once referred to as Poverty Lane,
reflecting the nature of the neighbourhood at the time. How the times have
changed .... Darling!!!. The twisty turny lanes actually follow the route of one
of London’s most famous lost waterways the Tyburn. Avery Row takes its name from
the bricklayer who cleverly paved over the waterway to make the streets.

Avery House, circa 1800 was a brothel with and
a thriving business! When we took the project on with a commercial brief to turn
it into a prestigious office head quarters, it was in massive need of
modernisation and refurbishment. We opened up the roof and put in a stylish roof
garden, but under the local regulations this could only be used at certain times
of the day. The basement was vast with old brick walls, but was running with
water and needed tanking. It was a big project.

The finished product was stunning, even if I do
say that myself!! It was put on the market and was quickly snapped up by Cartier
Jewellers at the highest per square foot cost in Mayfair at the time. I should
say it is a headquarters building not a stash for their jewellery, in case
anyone is thinking of doing a heist off the back of this blog!! No workshops
there!! But respecting their privacy there is no photo’s of the interior here
either.

As a matter of interest, a lot of the jewellery
companies in London do not advertise their workshops, Cartier itself was in 1997
robbed, by a gang of thieves, who came in via the skylight, it was alleged at
the time that they stole more than £30 million, however Cartier later denied
that it was that amount! Police had no idea how the robbers knew where the
workshop were as they had no signage. I have been into one of the workshops at
another occasion. Which is no longer there, (so you can’t torturer it out of
me!) Whilst I was in the workshop one of the jewellers poured a bag of cut
diamonds into my hand, he asked me how much they were worth? It was £30,000.00
.... Cool!! But I was not allowed to take them home!!

I have also worked at Garrard & Co,
Mayfair, London – The offices desperately needed upgrading and
refitting. Whilst I was there I was given a tour of the workshops, there was
some beautiful jewellery. I was lead into a small room with an old man sitting
at the table with multi-layered glasses on. He was working on a solid gold
castle encrusted in diamonds for a client. It was huge and possibly the most
garish thing I have ever seen. But I suppose each to their own! I mention this
just encase any of you would like to buy me something .... I like modern and
stylish !!!